🚨 “More for Less” – A Striking Look at Market Concentration in the EU Credit Rating Industry 🚨
🔎 Educational Series #9 from EACRA
In the 2024 EU credit rating landscape, one paradox stands out:
👉 The Big Three dominate revenues, despite handling only a minority of rating activity—whether in terms of coverage or analyst workforce.
👉 Meanwhile, “Other CRAs” conduct most of the actual work—issuing the majority of ratings and employing half of all analysts—yet receive just a small fraction of total revenue.
đź’ˇ Implications & Questions:
• Pricing vs. Perceived Quality: Are the Big Three able to charge significantly more purely due to brand recognition or perceived prestige?
• Market and Regulatory Efficiency: Is the market failing to reward CRAs in proportion to their actual contribution? Should supervisors explore measures to foster fairer competition and ensure the sustainability of smaller CRAs?
• Issuer and Investor Behavior: Why do market participants continue to pay a premium for Big Three ratings, even when officially recognized alternatives of equivalent quality are available?
At EACRA, we believe these questions deserve attention in the context of a healthy, diverse, and competitive rating ecosystem.
đź“Š Explore the data in our new infographic below.
đź’¬ We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments—do these dynamics reflect your experience of the market?EACRA Educational Series #9 – Competition in the EU rating market
